


Take Me Home, Country Roads

by lemonmerinque



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Gen, Songfic but not really, carlos gets brody to help him make a guitar, its hard to be a simp x(, meat lady surprise, spontaneous fics that pop out of nowhere are the best kind, the rest of the americans are there too but their presence is minimal so im not tagging, there's xenostan in this but its really not the focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26504953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonmerinque/pseuds/lemonmerinque
Summary: When in doubt, serenade the cause of your problems.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	Take Me Home, Country Roads

"I can do that."

Carlos's face lightened up with excitement at the affirmation and he clenched his fists at chest level. "When can y-" 

"But I'll make it out of steel, to save time and resources." Brody interrupted and gestured at the pile of scraps that were stacked in the corner of the workshop, Carlos agreed to his decision immediately, no less excited about its prospects. "Metal works just as good!" 

"Aright kiddo, but I've never more than held a guitar before, so I'll need a plan for it." 

With that the bulky man moved to the makeshift chalkboard located in the far end of the lab and Carlos scuttled after him. Brody cleaned up a corner of the plan-riddled surface and handed Carlos a crudely cut piece of chalk that was half a finger long. Upon receiving it, Carlos pondered for a bit how it wasn't particularly enjoyable to have an audience while drawing, but it felt necessary this time so he didn't voice the sentiment. Brody remained arms-crossed and fully attentive beside him as he began sketching the outline. 

A few explanations accompanied the illustration here and there and aside from an one off remark on Carlos's expertise in schematic design, Brody mostly nodded in agreement throughout the process. When the plan was finished he took hold of the chalk and fetched Carlos a square metal plank from his work table, asking him if its length was the average width of a guitar. More back and forths and tweaks to Carlos's design followed and soon it was complete with newly added scribbles of the dimensions of the instrument too. 

"Hm." Brody stood contemplative in front of the board. "The strings are going to be tricky with our current equipment." 

"Oh, leave those to me! I'll get some thread to make them and we can twist them with a power drill to make them more workable!" Carlos assured getting that piece of workload off Brody's shoulders. "Ok, should be ready in about a week from my end then."

"Really?! That's so fast, thank you so much!!"

Brody chuckled at the remark. "It's a single guitar kiddo, I'd finish it in a couple of hours if i weren't preoccupied."

"That's still amazing... God, I can't thank you enough, let me pay it back to you somehow!"

"Don't sweat it, you work around here hard enough. I'll have you wear it as a hat if you can't play it though!"

Carlos laughed loudly at the playful threat and clasped his hands together imitating a praying gesture. "I swear I do! I had lessons and all back in the day, you won't regret it! At least, let me do your laundry for a week?"

Brody instantly extended an arm for him to shake. "Two weeks and we got a deal."

Everything was coming together and Carlos hummed pleasantly on his way out of the workshop, more than happy with his decision to bypass Xeno's scrutiny and ask for help directly from the source. Their asshat science leader refused to let them try to depetrify Miss Luna no matter how much they pestered him about it. In his words she was "dead weight" and "an extra unnecessary mouth to feed", which was becoming an increasingly unfair statement given how Xeno himself spend more time posturing behind his plans on his very tall throne and had practically stopped contributing to the menial work around the place. 

  
Carlos's demand was simple so his plan was simple to match it.

He'd find a chance to entertain the camp enough to get them to vouch for him so Xeno can agree to revive Luna. He was going to put everything on the table this time, especially his willingness to work twice as hard to repay Xeno if he gave them some nitric acid, he really hoped to succeed this time. Even Max, who had long since stopped picking fights with him, agreed to be included in those terms and willing to help on any plan for her sake. His help was deeply appreciated, even if Carlos felt a little sorry for him. Being unaware he stood no chance with Luna and all... Anyway.

  
Miss Luna was most certainly awake and Carlos was going to save her.

***

Carlos rushed down the moonlit path with the first guitar to grace the Stone World hanging from his back, the circle around the campfire became louder and more audibly cheerful as he closed in. After tantrums from their leader about hang-over over-sleepers, the soldiers had to limit such gatherings down to twice a week, which reduced Carlos's chances by a lot, but that did not matter anymore. Tonight was one of those rare nights that Stanley successfully managed to drive Xeno out of the coop and drag him to the campfire festivities. Max had also taken care to keep a certain tone-deaf menace distracted back in the tower, so with potential sabotage taken care of, the time to strike was undeniably at hand.

He was welcomed heartily when he sat down in the free space on one of the logs and slipped the guitar into his hands, already receiving positive comments by the marines gathered around the fire, ranging between wanting to hear him play and surprised anyone even thought to make a guitar. Carlos had no mind for them though, he was here for the authority figure that had already scrunched up his face angrily and was glaring knowingly at the creator of the instrument.

"A blatant waste of resources Dr. Brody."

Brody smirked at Xeno's dry remark while accepting the cigarette and matches Stanley passed to him.

"Get that stick off your ass, we got plenty of steel to go by and I can melt the thing down if need be."

The other soldiers' reactions seemed to reflect Brody's statement and Xeno turned to his partner beside him, hoping for some form of back up among the unruly crowd. Unfortunately for him Stanley only puffed a cloud of smoke at the sky then took hold of Xeno's hand and placed a beer bottle in it. "Let them have this one."

Xeno fell silent after that, brooding in an air of disdain; there would be surely hell to pay in the morning. To the marines, who were already used to abuse from their superiors, Xeno did not pack more bite than a lapdog chihuahua, but Carlos had to gulp the stress down. He strummed the first notes and the camp almost instantly fell silent in awe. This was the first sound of civilization they beheld in over a year, or three thousand seven hundred and one years rather, the nostalgia in the air was high. The guitar might have not been a high quality job like the ones usually sold at music stores back in the day, but the majority of the audience was probably deaf to the difference in sound quality anyway, it served its purpose and Carlos was grateful. 

_Almost heaven, West Virginia_   
_Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River_   
_Life is old there, older than the trees_   
_Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze_

He wasn't a particularly good singer himself but that didn't matter much since one of the soldiers joined him after the first verse, two more braved it and soon after the majority of the men by the campfire were singing, their eagerness helping to ease his embarrassment of only having four songs memorized by heart.

_Country roads, take me home_   
_To the place I belong_   
_West Virginia, mountain mama_   
_Take me home, country roads_

The song went on and Xeno was visibly mellowing out, when Stanley scooted closer by his side and nudged him, he let out an inaudible chuckle and leaned by his boyfriend's side. Soon, out of Stanley's initiative, they swayed softly and hummed to the singing around them as well.

_I hear her voice in the mornin' hour, she calls me_   
_The radio reminds me of my home far away_   
_Drivin' down the road, I get a feelin'_   
_That I should've been home yesterday, yesterday_

_Country roads, take me home_   
_To the place I belong_   
_West Virginia, mountain mama_   
_Take me home, country roads..._

The camped erupted in wild laughter and applause when the song ended and Carlos took a break, letting his aching hand rest for a while and allowing the mow-hawked marine to his left to pepper him with questions of what other songs or music genres he was familiar with. Carlos entertained him but still kept his attention discreetly focused on Xeno who seemed to be happily caught up in a conversation with Stanley and another soldier too. 

Good, next up was Wonderwall.

Three songs and an encore later and he finally mustered the courage to voice his request. 

Despite how taken by the good vibes around the fire he was, Xeno's expression still easily turned sour. 

  
"Even if the girl is awake, she can't provide much to the workforce." He parroted for the millionth time.

  
"I'm sure she can! And I'm still down to work twice as hard for her and so does Max! We can carry Miss Luna's weight around if necessary, please let us try to revive her at least!"

The scientist sighed, but to Carlos's surprise, sounded more drained than angry this time. "Fine, but I will hold you to your word. Don't think you can slack off if she's around."

  
"I wouldn't dream of it!" 

  
Carlos cheered and the soldier on his left patted his back congratulatory, while another outside his line of vision made a joke about Xeno having a heart after all, which brought the full force of the scientist's stare of contempt on his person, a gesture that threatened no-one in particular given that the overall reactions in the camp were snickers and a hard hearty slap on the back for Xeno, courtesy of Brody.

The plan was a success and Carlos could only clutch his guitar overwhelmed with joy, only breaking back to reality when a soldier from the other side of the fire urged him to play another song. He slapped his own cheeks determined and collected himself, bringing the makeshift guitar pick back on the strings. 

Miss Luna would be with them tomorrow. 

Song and delight resounded from the campfire again, louder than before, everyone was so entrapped that even the rapidly approaching hulk of a woman went completely unnoticed up until she was roaring within audible radius and triumphantly claimed her spot by the fire. Max arrived at the site soon after but promptly collapsed just far enough to avoid getting his ears attacked viciously. He was exhausted from running after her but the sight of Carlos giving him a cheery thumbs up confirmed his efforts weren't for naught.

***

The castle was nearing completion and Xeno stopped by one of the huge windows to admire the view that looked into the front yard of the building. He smiled when he spotted Luna rush Carlos and Max around presumably urging them to clean up leftover construction debris, the duo really had stopped whining altogether after the girl was revived and her presence made them significantly more manageable. Good.

  
Maya stopped by the window next to his and joined him in gawking at the younger residents fondly. She smirked and dug her teeth in the crocodile tenders she held kebabed on a stick. 

  
"Chiquita works so hard ya know," she said in a pleasant singsong voice "the Doctor ought to follow her example every once in a while."

  
Xeno did not spare her a response as he left the corridor.

**Author's Note:**

> updated with Maya's name! i'm leaving the 'meat lady' bit in the tag though cause its funny and a good reminder she went unnamed for so long...


End file.
